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Preparing For The Worst, The U.K. and E.U. Brace For A No Deal Brexit With Contingency Plans To Prevent Chaos; Sentencing Delayed, Trump's Former National Security Adviser's Cozy Plea Deal Is Not Looking Too Cozy Anymore; An IPO Flop By Japanese Tech Giant Softbank Lost Billions Of Dollars On Its First Day Of Trading. Aired: 8-9a ET

Aired December 19, 2018 - 08:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


WILL RIPLEY, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN: I'm Will Ripley in Hong Kong. Welcome to "News Stream." Preparing for the worst, the U.K.

and E.U. brace for a no deal Brexit with contingency plans to prevent chaos. Sentencing delayed, Trump's former National Security adviser's cozy

plea deal is not looking too cozy anymore. An IPO flop by Japanese tech giant Softbank lost billions of dollars on its first day of trading.

We begin with a major hack of the European Union's diplomatic communications network. A hack first reported by the "New York Times".

The paper says cyber security firm Area 1 found hackers have been infiltrating the network for years, downloading thousands of cables,

encrypted messages sent on what was meant to be a secure network. Area 1 made some of those hacked cables available to "The Times." CNN has not yet

reviewed the documents, but Area 1 has an idea of who might be behind the hack.

Joining me now live from London the CNN's Samuel Burke. Samuel, it seems like these hackers wanted to learn everything they possibly could about

international diplomacy. What did they find?

SAMUEL BURKE, TECHNOLOGY AND BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Well, it's incredibly interesting for the past two years, President Trump has brought

a very different style to international relations. Now, we are finding out what these diplomats and world leaders think when they walk away from some

of these incredible interactions with the U.S. President.

Let's just put on the screen the most sensitive topics that we see in these cable, starting with Trump's negotiations with China. President Xi Jinping

quoted as saying working with Trump is like a no rules, free style boxing match. But more importantly, Xi reported as saying that Beijing will not

submit to what he calls bullying from the United States, even if the trade war hurts everybody.

Now, when it comes to relationships with Russia, European diplomats described that meeting between Trump and President Putin in Finland back in

July as successful, at least for Putin, not necessarily for Trump or the United States. Perhaps worrying in these cables, Crimea described as a hot

zone where nuclear warheads might have already been deployed. And even though the U.S. has pulled out of the Iran deal, cable show European

diplomats requesting to finance exports to Iran to entice that country to continue complying with the 2015 agreement.

Will, I think if you could summarize the most important sentiment here, the European Union seems to say that there's a negative attitude from President

Trump toward the E.U. and the word they keep on using is that causes a lot of insecurity.

RIPLEY: It's so fascinating, and there's a reason why these cables are encrypted. These are diplomats that supposedly should be able to speak

candidly. Do we have any idea who these hackers might be and are - is the E.U. taking steps to prevent this from happening again?

BURKE: Yes, the idea is that they can speak candidly, but certainly they're not feeling that today. Let me just also put up on the screen what

we know and don't know about this hack, starting with the fact that that cyber security firm, Area 1 says these e-mails were accessed using

techniques resembling those long used by an elite unit of the China's People's Liberation Army.

But it was just a simple phishing campaign, Will, aimed at diplomats in Cyprus. These are e-mails that so many people get you to think it's from

your work, you think it's from your cell phone company. You click it, put in your information and it turns out you've handed over your passwords to a

foreign group, and many times, and then they can use that information to access your accounts or in this case, a much larger system.

Now, unlike WikiLeaks, which were high level cables, these are low level classified documents. And of course, the hackers didn't publish them.

Very important to mention here that the China Ministry of Foreign Affairs says this "New York Times" report is suspicious, groundless and extremely

irresponsible. They point out that China has been the victim of hacks, certainly, something that I hear from tech leaders in the United States,

here in the European Union as well in China, Jack Ma once told me that Alibaba faces thousands of hacks a day, Will.

RIPLEY: Yes, and, of course, the Chinese would never want any candid conversation that Xi Jinping would have go out in public, especially if

it's any way controversial. So obviously, they're watching this closely and we know you are, too. Samuel Burke, live in London. Thank you.

[08:05:00]

RIPLEY: Well there are 100 days to go until Britain is due to leave the European Union - 100 days. Not a lot of time. The Prime Minister Theresa

May has just been telling Parliament that she will reveal the results of her discussions with the E.U. in January. Now Britain's leading business

groups, they are warning that time is running out to prevent the severe consequences of Britain crashing out of the E.U. with no deal in place.

And the U.K. government says it is speeding up preparations in case no deal is reached with the European Union. I want to go to CNN's Anna Stewart who

is live for us in London and has been following all of this.

Anna, some are saying that a no deal scenario for Brexit would have disastrous consequences. How much of that is scare mongering?

ANNA STEWART, REPORTER, CNN: Yes, and the contingency planning that has come out in the last 24 hours from the government has also fueled

speculation that what they're doing is scare mongering. And we've just had "Prime Minister Question Time," thankfully the last of the year. I am

sure, Theresa May feels the same as I do. And I can say how I appreciate Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the Labour Party later on suggested that she

was scare mongering here.

He think that she is essentially trying to run down the clock and make a no deal Brexit look likely and terrifying so that her Brexit deal is the only

one people will vote for and they will vote for it.

Of course, the Prime Minister has refuted that and she also actually took Jeremy Corbyn to task over his confusing antics this week. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THERESA MAY, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: They said they'd put on a vote of no confidence; then they said they wouldn't, then they said they would. Then

they did it, but it wasn't effective. I know it's the Christmas season and the pantomime season. But what we see from the Labour front bench and the

right Honorable gentleman, he is going to put a confidence vote. Oh, yes, he is. Oh, no, he isn't. I've got some news for him. I've got some

advice for the right Honorable gentleman. Look behind you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEWART: Clearly, the Prime Minister likes a bit of panto there. Now, what happened this week, Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the Labour opposition, it

looked like he was going to bring forth a vote of confidence against the government, then he failed to do it, bringing one against the Prime

Minister herself which effectively didn't mean much. It was fairly meaningless, symbolic, it's not going to get time in Parliament.

The smaller parties, Will, just in the last 24 hours have tried to put forward a confidence vote on the government, but they need Labour to join

them and Labour is not joining them yet. But this, if it ever happens in the coming weeks or months, that would essentially pave the way for a new

government to be formed or a snap election.

RIPLEY: Anna, if there wasn't so much at stake, it would be quite entertaining to go watch all of the drama unfold in Parliament. But, you

know, there's another hot kind of issue that people are talking about. The Prime Minister ruled it out this week, but is this second referendum still

a possibility?

STEWART: Well, a second referendum is something the Prime Minister has to rule out almost every day at the moment. There is so much chat about it.

Frankly, it does not have the support at this stage that it would need to happen. Not within the Labour Party, not within the Conservative Party.

Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, he doesn't want it largely I think because two-thirds of his MPs are from Brexit areas. You know, it wouldn't

be electorally not very useful for him to table that.

In addition, Will, it takes time, it takes about seven months for the last referendum in 2016, for the legislation to be passed. And then you've got

the issue of what on earth would the question be? Because would it be in or out like we had last time or would it be hard Brexit, soft Brexit, no

Brexit. Would it be Norway kind of Brexit, Canada kind of Brexit? I mean, there are just so many options. Parliament can't agree on anything at the

moment. I can't imagine how that would go down, Will.

RIPLEY: You must be Brex-hausted, Anna Stewart. I have to steal that line from you. You e-mailed me earlier. I bet you can't wait for Christmas

Break and maybe a little bit of a pause in all of this, but it will pick right back up. Anna Stewart, live in London. Thank you.

Coming up on news stream, the Trump organization, the campaign, the inauguration, the transition, the administration and now, even the

charitable foundation all under investigation. Yes, the scandals keep piling up for the U.S. President. Also, a developing story. Another hit

for Zimbabwe's Mugabe family. Authorities are looking to arrest the deposed leader's wife.

[08:10:00]

Eleven minutes past 9:00 here in Hong Kong. It is Wednesday and you're watching "News Stream." South African authorities have issued an arrest

warrant for Grace Mugabe, the wife of the deposed Zimbabwean dictator, Robert Mugabe. Now, she's accused of assaulting a South African model in

August of last year. A brutal assault if you believe the model's account of it all.

Now, South Africa is also applying for to Interpol to issue a red notice which is almost like an international arrest warrant calling for Grace

Mugabe's arrest and extradition. This story breaking just in the last few hours. CNN's Eleni Giokos is live in Johannesburg for us. This has not

been a great year for Zimbabwe's former First Lady.

ELENI GIOKOS, CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Yes. It absolutely hasn't, and we know that the South African police, as you say, have issued that arrest warrant.

What is interesting is that they are working closely with Interpol to try and force the warrant. They have applied for a red alert notice.

And if that does, in fact, come through, then Zimbabwe will be held accountable and liable to extradite Mugabe. Of course, this is going to be

a very delicate situation because of the coup last year where Robert Mugabe and, of course, the First Lady were ousted out of government by Emmerson

Mnangagwa and what is really important to note here is that Robert Mugabe and his wife have still be residing in the Presidential Palace.

So whether Zimbabwe is going to actually extradite Grace Mugabe is going to be interesting, but going back to these assault charges, Will, it's

important to note that over the time that it occurred in South Africa, viral photos were, of course, made massive headlines in the country because

the model had alleged that Mugabe had assaulted her with an electrical cable that she says had opened her head - open in around three places.

And over that time, the South African government had issued Mugabe diplomatic immunity, even though she was in the country not for diplomatic

purposes, and that is when the prosecutor for the Oscar Pistorius trial stepped in and decided to represent the model. Of course that went through

the courts and, of course, we've got the diplomatic immunity that has now been overturned and we stand here today with an arrest warrant for Grace

Mugabe.

RIPLEY: It will be interesting, though, to see if Zimbabwean authorities comply. Eleni Giokos, a lot to watch there and we thank you for your live

report. Now, to Washington where President Donald Trump is facing more blows to his already scandal-plagued Presidency.

Mr. Trump's charitable foundation, it is now closing its doors amid an ongoing civil lawsuit over its finances. Prosecutors say the organization

was less of a charity and more like a personal piggy bank for Mr. Trump and his three eldest children. Meanwhile, a judge has ordered a unnamed

foreign company to comply with a grand jury subpoena believed to be from Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Now, the Justice Department has asked the

firm to turn over information about its commercial activities.

And sentencing has been delayed for the President's former National Security adviser. In Tuesday's hearing, Michael Flynn eviscerated Mr.

Trump's claim that he was entrapped by the FBI during the Russia investigation. Now, if you remember, Flynn was a top adviser to Donald

Trump on National Security issues. He resigned from the Trump administration after he failed to tell the Vice President that he discussed

sanctions with a Russian official.

[08:15:05]

RIPLEY: In December of 2017, Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to Federal investigators. For more on this, let's bring in CNN legal analyst Shan Wu

who is live in Washington. Shan, let's start with Michael Flynn. So despite this humiliating dressing down that he got in court, he's not

backing away from his guilty plea. He's still cooperating with the Special Counsel. So what does that mean for Flynn and also, frankly, for President

Trump?

SHAN WU, LEGAL ANALYST, CNN: For Flynn, this is a second chance. Judge Emmet Sullivan really threw a monkey wrench into the agreements and plans

of the Mueller prosecutors and the Flynn defense team.

I think the defense team may have made a minor miscalculation with good intentions. Earlier, they had filed a pleading in which they suggested

that Flynn had been ambushed by the FBI. They hadn't read him his were proper rights, etcetera, and the Mueller team pushed back on that and the

judge was quite offended by that. He went into that with Flynn and even went so far as to ask the prosecution if it was possible that they could

have considered charging Flynn with treason.

So this quite was stunning for both sides. They took a break and is then decided to ask for a postponement hoping that in the intervening period,

over the next weeks, they can do even more cooperation and maybe convince the judge that he really should get no jail time.

I think the problem is Mueller would not have agreed to the sentencing at this point if they felt there was a lot more cooperation to be done. So I

don't really think there's a whole lot more that they can do, that they can hope that the judge calms down a bit and that is probably what they're

banking on. In terms of what it means for the President, it seems although it's a black box to us, that Flynn has probably been a very, very helpful

cooperator. He was the first man in on the cooperation from Mueller and they have found it to be of substantial assistance to them such that they

were agreeing he had no jail time.

So I think that's really added a lot to the pressures on the President and his team as you were alluding to, there's more and more allegations. I

think there are about 17 investigations going on and I think that that pressure is mounting a lot. You really are seeing the strains and the

cracks beginning to show.

RIPLEY: And now you have this lawsuit claiming, a, quote, "shocking pattern of illegality at President Trump's charity." I mean, what does

that tell you about the way he's running the White House?

WU: Yes, it says a lot. And it's really quite, I think distressing for him and his team because he's always tried to draw this line in the sand

not to go into his personal businesses and his family, and of course, that charity exactly involves both of those -- his personal business and his

family.

And I think really, disturbingly, you know for America as a country, it really indicates his recklessness and his feeling that he does not need to

abide by the rules, and even when you hear the White House statements about this, it always strikes me that they reflect Trump's sort of a second on or

third creator's view of what it means to be the American President which is he can just do anything he wants. The President can do anything he wants

and that's not true. And the facts and the law are beginning to catch up.

RIPLEY: And we'll have to see what happens with this unnamed foreign company getting a grand jury subpoena, see if this there's any connection

to the Russia investigation. Shan Wu, appreciate your expertise. Thanks for joining us from Washington.

WU: Nice to see you.

RIPLEY: Turning now - yes, good to see you too - Russia now though says that it is moving forward with a missile contract for Turkey. This is

despite a possible U.S. arms deal. The Kremlin says Moscow intends to sell the Russian made S-400 missile defense system to Ankara even though the

U.S. has already approved the sale of rival missile equipment to Turkey. Now this comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin, he threatened to

beef up security if the U.S. withdraws from a key nuclear treaty.

So I want to bring in CNN's Fred Pleitgen who is following the story for us live in Moscow. Fred, what a mess? How did we get here what does this

mean for NATO which is kind of caught in the middle?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN: I think you're absolutely right. It is certainly a mess right now and the relations

between the United States and Russia and it certainly doesn't look as though things are going to get any better anytime soon. Of course, we know

that the U.S. was certainly not very happy about Turkey potentially buying those S-400 missile defense systems from the Russians.

The Russians however, of course, very keen to have that sale go through. All of this, Will, of course, as the relations between the U.S. and Russia

continue to get worse, especially after one report after the next comes out in the U.S. outlining the scope and the scale of, for instance, what online

trolls did in the United States both before the last Presidential election and afterwards as well.

Kremlin originally didn't want to comment on that yesterday. They finally did. Here is what they said to us.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

PLEITGEN: An annoyed response from the Kremlin to the Senate report outlining Russian online troll activity against the U.S. both before and

after the 2016 Presidential Election. Vladimir Putin's spokesman denying Moscow's involvement.

[08:20:07]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DMITRY PESKOV, KREMLIN SPOKESMAN: (Through a translator). Somebody is very critical of U.S. social issues and we are blamed for it? What does

Russia have to do with this? It's not described. I can only repeat that we once again disagree with this. We think these are totally baseless

statements.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: Moscow also engaging in tough military talk against the U.S. In a yearend meeting with his military leaders, Vladimir Putin saying Russia

is moving fast to beat the U.S.'s missile defense systems.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT: (Through a translator). It is necessary to quickly switch over to modern weapons that possess the

enhanced capabilities of breaching the advanced missile shield defenses. Next on the agenda are the serial production and the delivery of the avant-

garde global range missile complex to the troops.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: Earlier this year, Russia announced the development of what it says is a hyper sonic nuclear missile with a global range called avant-

garde. Putin's Defense Minister says widespread deployment will begin next year.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SERGEI SHOIGU, RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTER: (Through a translator). In 2019, the Ministry of Defense is facing a number of defensive tasks which

need to be fulfilled. Regarding our strategic nuclear forces, we need to deploy 31 launchers with the intercontinental ballistic missiles, YARs, and

avant-garde.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: Tensions between Moscow and Washington are increasing despite President Trump's stated goal of improving relations with Vladimir Putin.

The U.S. saying it will pull out of the INF treaty which bans medium range nuclear weapons, claiming Moscow is breaching the agreement. Putin today

threatening to deploy new weapons if America abandons the deal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PUTIN: (Through a translator). If that, which they keep trying to frighten us with happens, well, we will have to respond accordingly. And

as you understand, it won't be too big of a deal to do the appropriate research and development and put them on the ground if necessary.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: As the Kremlin continues to lose faith in President Trump's ability to salvage relations between Russia and the U.S., Moscow is beefing

up its forces even announcing they will hold strategic nuclear forces drills next year.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

PLEITGEN: And one of the other areas where they're beefing up their forces, as well, Will, is actually the Arctic and that's a huge area of

concern for the United States. The Russians saying just yesterday that they want to finish infrastructure for three sites for air defense systems

in the Arctic. That, of course, on top of, for instance, the basis that they're building up there, the air fields that they're building up there,

as well. An area where the U.S. is really lagging behind as that relationship between these two important countries continues to sour, Will.

RIPLEY: Certainly looking and sounding a lot like an arms race. We'll have to see what happens. Fred Pleitgen there, live in Moscow. Thanks

very much.

One of the deadliest ebola outbreaks in history is still spreading in the Democratic Republic of Congo. More than 300 people have died from this

rare type of fever and ITN's John Ray reports stories that you're hearing on the ground are just heartbreaking.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

JOHN RAY, CORRESPONDENT, ITN: We are entering the world of ebola where no faint heart dares tread. It is a world of pain and pity. With our camera

carried by their medical team and through layers of latex and protective plastic, MSF offers as best it can a human touch and care for the

desperately ill.

It is a highly contagious virus that can strip its victims of dignity. Some arrive already so consumed by ebola that it might be too late to save

them. Doctors are trying experimental drugs, untested in clinical trials because there's no alternative. Still, the death rate is more than 50%.

The world has never been better prepared and armed with a battery of new drugs, better equipped to combat this disease and yet, ebola continues to

confound every prediction and every projection. It is still spreading.

And still killing. A family has gathered to collect a body. Their grief is unrelenting and feelings are running high. We're asked to keep a

distance. Instead, we watch as a young boy listens to the weeping and we try to guess what emotions are running through his head. His mother and

three brothers have all died. He is more or less alone with his thoughts.

Since August, this outbreak has rolled through the jungles of Northeast Congo and has now arrived in Butembo, a ramshackle city of a million

people.

[08:25:10]

RAY: In villages, ebola has passed through, much misery mains. A single tear runs down a child's face as he remembers his mother. He tells me she

was preparing his milk when her headaches began. Later, the bleeding started and then swiftly came death. In the nearby city of Beni, Joshua

looks over the wall that separates his nursery from his mother who is fighting for her life in the treatment center next door. No one knows if

he, too, will succumb. So only those who have survived the disease and cannot be re-infected can touch him.

I pray to God he doesn't go through the pain I went through, his carer tells me. But there is no happy ending here. Before we leave, we learn

Joshua's mother has died. He is now one of hundreds of ebola orphans.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

RIPLEY: That was ITN's John Ray with a very important look at a situation that is not reported about nearly enough. You're watching "News Stream."

We'll be right back.

I'm Will Ripley live in Hong Kong. You're watching "News Stream", and these are your world headlines. A major breach of the E.U.'s diplomatic

communications network first reported by the "New York Times." Cyber security firm, Area 1 discovered the breach and made some of the hacked

cables available to the paper. CNN has not had a chance to review the documents, but "The Time" says they showed the E.U.'s anxieties about

Donald Trump, Russia, Iran and other issues.

One of America's senior diplomats says the U.S. is considering reviewing the ban that blocks most Americans from traveling to North Korea. Stephen

Biegun told reporters in Seoul, the evaluation would take place early next year if conditions are right, and he said, it would allow American aid

workers inside North Korea.

One hundred days to go until Brexit, and five of Britain's leading business groups are warning that time is running out to prevent these severe

consequences of Britain crashing out of the E.U. with no deal in place. The U.K. government says it is speeding up preparations in case no deal is

reached or agreed upon. Defense Secretary says 3,500 troops are also being put on standby.

The Brexit debate has sparked a controversy over a possible sexism in parliament. We're going to play again those comments from the Prime

Minister Theresa May.

[08:30:00]

RIPLEY: And I want you to listen to the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn at the end of her statement, actually, pay close attention. Watch your screen

and see if you can understand what he mouths.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAY: They said they put down a vote of no confidence, then they said they wouldn't. Then they said they would. Then they did it, but it wasn't

effective. I know it's the Christmas season and the pantomime season, but what do we see from the Labour front bench and the right Honorable

gentleman. He is got to put a confidence vote. Oh, yes, he is. Oh, no, he isn't. I've got some news for him. I've got some advice for the right

Honorable gentleman. Look behind you. They're not impressed --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIPLEY: Did you see his lips right there? Did you catch that? He seemed to call Prime Minister May a stupid woman. At least that's what she

believes. And here is how she responded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAY: Can I say to my honorable friend, that I think that everybody in this House, particularly in this 100th year anniversary of women getting the

vote, should be aiming to encourage women to come into this claim and to stand in this chamber and should, therefore, use appropriate language in

this chamber when they are referring to female members.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIPLEY: No word on whether Corbyn has apologized or even acknowledged that that is what he said.

A hard landing for Softbank after one of the world's biggest IPOs, a pretty disappointing start though. Shares in the Japanese mobile telecomm plunged

14.5% in Tokyo after raising an eye-popping 23$.5 billion to investors. This listing is a key part of CEO, Masayoshi Son efforts to reposition his

company as a global tech investor.

Softbank is already a major player, pumping hundreds of millions of dollars into technologies that could shape our future. Things like artificial

intelligence and robotics. Softbank is not without controversy. It decided to stick with Saudi Arabia as an investment partner despite

international outrage over the brutal murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. On that note, let's bring in Seijiro Takeshita, he is the former director

of Mizumo's equities department. Now, he is a professor joining us live from Shizuoka City in Japan. Good to be with you and thanks for your time

tonight.

SEIJIRO TAKESHITA, PROFESSOR, MANAGEMENT AND INFORMATION, UNIVERSITY OF SHIZUOKA: Pleasure, always a pleasure.

RIPLEY: So what do you make of this dramatic plunge on the first day of this IPO? Should Softbank be discouraged?

TAKESHITA: Actually, it's bad timing as you know very much for example, the moves in the United States, the equity market is really making a big

plunge, and obviously, the Japanese market is well, being dragged in as well. We saw the market drop already 6% this month alone, and basically

what we are seeing is a total sellout situation. And this is when they had to make this IPO.

In addition to that, Softbank had a very, very big problem, a failure of their system on the 6th of December. So basically it was rather bad

timing, given a pretty negative image for both of these institutional and private investor in addition to the Saudi Arabia factors that you're

talking about.

RIPLEY: So this massive amount of money that's been raised, where is it going and do you think that the strategy that Masayoshi Son has here is

going to pay out in the long run?

TAKESHITA: Well, it has paid out in the long run many, many times. But I think what the institutional investor constantly is quite aware and afraid

about is that this is almost like the musical chair. In other words, Mr. Son had been playing the music very eloquently.

But everyone is extremely scared when the music will stop because Softbank had been betting very heavily on these new investments and diversification,

which worked out fine so far. But the main line of business, the telecommunication in Japan is under a very, very big threat considering the

fact that the government is there to pressurize the prize down, to lower the price constantly. In addition, they have got the new competitor,

Rockton, coming in addition to the conventional competitors which are very strong, the KDDI and NTT DoCoMo.

So the environment itself is very, very difficult and the only way that Softbank really its presence is diversification and internationalization.

RIPLEY: Seijiro Takeshita, I remember the Softbank pepper robot back in 2014 and to think how far things have come since then and where they're

headed. It's really extraordinary. We appreciate your time joining us from Japan. Thank you so much.

Now to Facebook which is facing yet another potential controversy. According to the "New York Times" the social networking giant gave other

tech companies including Microsoft, Amazon and Spotify much more access to Facebook user data than it had previously disclosed.

[08:35:05]

RIPLEY: "Time" says it obtained hundreds of pages of Facebook documents revealing that it allowed some firms to see the names of users' friends,

reading private messages and even obtained contact information all without consent. I want to bring in our chief media correspondent, CNN's Brian

Stelter who joins me now from New York. I mean, this is just another bad headline for Facebook. What are you hearing, Brian?

BRIAN STELTER, CHIEF MEDIA CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Yes, in a year of bad headlines, and this one is particularly disturbing because it involves what

we all think of as our private information on Facebook. Here are some examples on of what is alleged to have been enabled by Facebook. A number

of partners that it worked with, big tech companies from Netflix to Spotify to Microsoft were able to access various kinds of Facebook data. Amazon,

for example, able to obtain e-mail addresses through friends. Netflix able to read private messages. Yahoo! Able to view real-time feeds of friends'

posts. Now, these companies for the most part say they didn't abuse this ability. In some cases, they didn't use it at all.

Some of these companies say they didn't even know that Facebook had given them this access into people's accounts. But regardless, the point is that

Facebook opened the door and left the door open in some cases for years. Now the company is scrambling to respond, trying to down play the

significance of this and saying that users, they went ahead, they agreed when they log on to Facebook and when they clicked various boxes to allow

partners like Microsoft to make services easier to use.

But I think the overarching question here is do users really know what's going on when they are on Facebook? Do they realize that they are the

product and they are being sold to advertisers? Here's a statement from the company saying in part that they do have to improve communication with

the users. The company is saying, "We know we have got work to do to regain people's trust. Protecting people's information requires stronger

teams, better technology and clearer policies and that's what we've been focused on for most of 2018."

Of course, back in March, the Cambridge Analytica scandal broke wide open and ever since then, Facebook has been facing a barrage of these negative

headlines. The company is facing slow or no user growth and it has a lot of challenges ahead as it tries to convince people that as a responsible

user, a responsible site when it comes to private, private data.

RIPLEY: And you know, you talk to a lot of young people now who consider Facebook old fashioned, which is shocking to me because in college, I

didn't even have a Facebook. But nonetheless, troubling trend, right? I'm ageing myself a little bit. Brian Stelter, always appreciate your

expertise, live in New York, thank you very much.

STELTER: Thanks. Thank you.

RIPLEY: You're watching "News Stream" and still to come, a celebrity dog in China may be extending his career on the silver screen forever. All

right, we'll tell you how that would have worked. Coming up.

Elon Musk is calling this a "eureka" moment. The tech entrepreneur has debuted his latest visionary project in Los Angeles, an underground loop

track. It promises to revolutionize transport in what is often called the most freeway congested city in the U.S. Guests were invited on demo rides

using a Tesla electric vehicle traveled around 64 kilometers an hour.

[08:40:10]

RIPLEY: Musk is hoping that cars will eventually travel this way in thousands of locations around the world. And in Los Angeles, I'm sure they

would take anything to help them beat that horrific traffic there.

A while back, Hollywood star Barbra Streisand cloned her beloved Coton du Tolear, Samantha for $50,000.00. Now with a similar price tag, you can do

the same, at least in China. CNN's Amara Walker introduces us to Juice, a celebrity dog, an ageing celebrity who is about to get perhaps a live long

and maybe forever.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

AMARA WALKER, ANCHOR, CNN: A rare and unusual operation in a Chinese lab. You're watching scientists extract skin samples from a dog. Part of a

procedure to clone the dog, Juice. Famous for starring in Chinese films and television productions.

Juice adopted off the streets is now nine years old and his career may soon peak. But his owner, He Jun wants him to live on in one form or another.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HE JUN, JUICE's OWNER AND DOG TRAINER: (Through a translator). He has a lot of fans, so he's a piece of intellectual property with social

influence. So we want to keep his appearance going forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: So a He went on to Sinogene, a Chinese biotech company that specializes in pet cloning. Sinogene came to prominence in 2017 when it

announced that it had cloned a beagle.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MI JIDONG, CEO, SINOGENE: (Through a translator). We've discovered that more and more pet owners want their pets to accompany them for an even

longer period of time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: He paid about $55,000.00 for the procedure and scientists used Juice's skin samples to isolate his DNA and fertilize an egg. The egg was

then surgically inserted into a beagle and it was closely monitored during pregnancy. In September, the cloned puppy arrived. Juice's owner is

impressed. When we adopted Juice, he said, he looked just like this.

Experts say the Chinese biotech industry is advancing rapidly. Earlier this year, scientists in Shanghai said they produced the world's first

cloned monkeys. One Hong Kong based professor says while there are regulations on the use of animals in the lab, there are no laws that

explicitly cover animal cloning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On the government side, the image of this cloning industry is really high tech. Definitely our can country is very

supportive for those high tech industry because of their high profit margin.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: For He Jun, having a replica of his beloved Juice is certainly a dream come true. Amara Walker, CNN.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

RIPLEY: They may look the same, but you can't clone a personality. That is "News Stream." I'm Will Ripley. Connect with me on Facebook, Twitter,

Instagram @WillRipleyCNN and don't go anywhere. "World Sport" with Kate Riley is next.

(SPORTS)

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